


Odin Dark's Terrible Tale of Woe, Heartache, and Brunch

by imalright



Category: Fire Emblem: If | Fire Emblem: Fates
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, M/M, Multi, New Year's Kiss, i use the kids' awakening names tho i think it works better in modern au
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-03
Updated: 2020-08-03
Packaged: 2021-03-05 19:01:23
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,471
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25680244
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/imalright/pseuds/imalright
Summary: “I swear to the Gods, Owain, if you don’t get out of bed I’m gonna knock all your weird crystals onto the ground,” the baker says. Owain panics and, in his mad dash to his feet, he rolls off the bed and onto his ass, trapped in the twisted binds of his constellation-themed sheets.“Do not —ngh— disrespect their power, my dear Severa,” he almost-shouts as he struggles to free himself with his eyes still shut. He can practically feel her eyes roll.“Yeah, yeah, whatever,” she says, “I won’t touch your stupid rocks. Now getup.”Owain kisses two of his beloved friends on New Year's Eve. According to Severa, it's gross. According to Owain, it's a mistake. According to everyone else, it's expected.
Relationships: Leon | Leo/Odin/Zero | Niles
Comments: 17
Kudos: 53





	Odin Dark's Terrible Tale of Woe, Heartache, and Brunch

**Author's Note:**

> hi everyone who has my user subs turned on for 3h i have a surprise for you

First, there was nothing.

The eve of the new year passed in a warm haze, its tender hands raining prosperity like gold confetti that got trapped in his hair and somehow ended up down his shirt. It was unforgettable. A thing of beauty wrapped in the seductive call of merriment.

_Owain._

And still, there was nothing. Bodies floated by at the edge of vision and memory, dancing across the floor and pulling him into their orbit. They took his hand and guided him through what may have been crowds of people, but could have been a thick fog rolling through the hills. Time turned over and yet stayed the same, bringing the world into its new year without a single care.

_Owain._

But nothing is nothing to fear; nothing is nothing to dread. Nothing is simply that: nothing. Nothing nothing nothing. Nothing nothing nothing nothing nothing nothing nothing. Peculiar how words cease to sound like words when one repeats them. There was nothing nothing nothing nothing nothing nothing nothing nothing nothing.

And then, there was everything.

_“Owain!”_

Owain’s eyes shoot open. He gasps in pain and clenches them shut, shielding his mind from the wicked rays of the sun threatening his very being from beyond the veil. He has a mere moment of relief before the pounding starts, echoing in his head, kneading into his brain with angry palms. He’ll never rise like this; Owain Dark has been bested by the baker of life, doomed to live out the rest of his days underproofed and unbaked.

“Owain, _get up.”_

Owain turns over and smothers his face into his pillow. “Begone, fiend!” he tries to shout, but it’s far too loud so he settles on a low groan instead, “Death has already come to claim my body and mind, you’re far too late to harvest my soul.”

The dastardly baker flips her dough and Owain lands on his back with a pillow clutched to his face.

“I swear to the Gods, Owain, if you don’t get out of bed I’m gonna knock all your weird crystals onto the ground,” the baker says. Owain panics and, in his mad dash to his feet, he rolls off the bed and onto his ass, trapped in the twisted binds of his constellation-themed sheets.

“Do not — _ngh_ — disrespect their power, my dear Severa,” he almost-shouts as he struggles to free himself with his eyes still shut. He can practically feel her eyes roll.

“Yeah, yeah, whatever,” she says, “I won’t touch your stupid rocks. Now get _up.”_

Owain pouts, eyes _still_ shut. “But I’m up,” he says from the floor.

“You call that up?”

“Here,” a new voice says. His hand is taken and two small trinkets are placed in his palm. Something cold is placed in his lap. “Take these and drink that. I have more if you need them.”

Sweet, sweet relief. Inigo’s angelic voice guides his spirit to safety with such treasures as painkillers and gatorade. He does as he’s commanded, drinks all the forbidden nectar in one fell swoop, and fifteen silent minutes later he blinks his eyes open to the welcome sight of Severa and Inigo sitting across from him, cross-legged, on the floor, and haloed by the rising sun coming in through his window.

“My friends,” he says with a little flourish, “Thank you, for I would have perished —”

“Do you remember what happened last night?” Severa cuts him off. Owain blinks.

“Such a mighty question —” he says, attempting to stall, but Severa’s having none of it.

“Do you. Remember. What happened. Last night.”

He looks at Inigo. Inigo looks at the floor. He looks back at Severa and shakes his head no. After three tequila shots and whatever cursed drinks Camilla kept pushing into his hand, Owain’s memories have disappeared, lost to the sands of time and faded into the galaxies above. The night is a single dark curtain pulled across his senses, what lies beyond is far out of reach in the lively light of day. Except.

He swallows.

“Oh,” he says, his face burning hot.

“Oh,” Severa says with a snort.

He remembers one single thing from the night before with startling clarity: kissing his two beloved friends, Leo and Niles, at the stroke of midnight. On the lips. With tongue. At the same time.

“You told them it’d be a kiss to remember,” Inigo says, looking dreamy and jealous all at once.

Owain looks to his hands, shaking with power, and he wishes he didn’t believe in magic, didn’t read spellbooks for fun, didn’t carry around cool rocks with powers he learned from a book he bought for $9.99 +tax. He wishes the greater powers in the universe didn’t bend to his will, didn’t follow his commanding directions. But he does, and they do, and now he has a problem.

“If that was truly me,” Owain says, slow, hyper aware of Severa and Inigo’s eyes trained on him, “And if I truly said that, then the magical power that flows through my veins —”

“Seriously? Now?” Severa scoffs. Owain ignores her.

“— will have made it so they’ll never forget. My folly will haunt me until the end of my days.” He sighs. “My arcane abilities have harmed me once again. You should have let me die in my bed.”

“He’s definitely serious,” Inigo says.

“You’re blaming magic,” Severa says, voice flat. “You kissed Leo and Niles at the same time — very loudly, may I add, it was disgusting — and you’re going to blame it on magic.”

“I’m only blaming the magic for the memory,” Owain says, cutting straight to the point. “If none of us remembered it wouldn’t matter. But all of us remember, so it _does_ matter.”

“You don’t even know if they remember,” Inigo points out. Owain pouts.

“Were you even listening?” he whines, “They definitely remember. For magical reasons.”

“Uh huh,” Severa says. “Anyway, I’m sure this is unrelated, but Leo texted me, he asked if you were checking your phone. I told him you were still dead. You’re welcome for that, by the way.”

Owain takes a moment to let that sink in. Then he looks to his phone on his bedside table, mere inches away, and decides that’s much too far.

“How unfortunate that fate would do this to me,” Owain says.

“You did this to yourself,” Inigo says. He isn’t wrong.

“Maybe you’ll finally start dating now,” Severa says with a smirk. Odin balks.

_“Date?”_ he gasps, “No, no, no, one does not _date_ their allies. Such an action tempts the wicked tendrils of destiny.”

“Don’t be such a baby about it,” Severa says.

“You’re the naive one here,” Owain says, “When you date a trusted companion you lose them upon the partnership turning sour, your connections severed and bonds lost. I cannot accept such a fate, and I refuse to willingly bring it upon myself.”

“People date their friends all the time,” Inigo says, pointedly winking at Owain and Severa, “My dearest Severa —”

“Nope,” she says.

“Such a shame,” Inigo sighs, looking forlorn, “Our friendship is forever destroyed. I can never talk to Severa again.”

“You jest, but you know it to be true,” Owain says. He groans and leans his head back against the edge of his bed. “That’s different, anyway. You’re joking, and I’m…”

Severa clicks her tongue. “In love?”

He can’t even deny. So he doesn’t.

“Shocker,” Selena says. Inigo laughs.

“I know love when I see it,” Inigo says. Severa scoffs. “And you, my friend, are hopelessly in love.”

“You don’t have to say it out loud,” Owain mutters.

“You sure kissed them out loud,” Severa says, “Have I mentioned how gross it was? There was slurping and everything. I thought Niles had more experience than that.”

“Please,” Owain says, “Stop describing it.”

“Only if you can use your stupid fake magic to scrub my memory clean.”

“What do I _do?”_ Owain whines.

“You could check your phone,” Inigo suggests. Owain shivers.

“Anything but that.”

“You could face your problems and deal with the consequences of your actions,” Severa suggests.

“Why are you so mean to me?”

“Someone’s gotta be,” Severa says.

Owain sinks down until he’s nearly flat on the floor. “Maybe I can go back in time and undo my mistakes.”

“If we could do that then we’d have much easier lives,” Inigo says.

“You’re hopeless,” Severa snaps. Owain watches, trapped under the weight of his regrets as she leans over him to grab his phone and throw it at his face. He doesn’t catch it. It smacks his forehead. “Be an adult.”

He whines.

“You’re pathetic,” Severa says before she stands up and leaves, leaving Owain and Inigo on the floor of Owain’s bedroom. Inigo regards him and opens his mouth to speak, but Owain holds up a hand to stop him.

“Your advice in the realm of love is unnecessary and unhelpful,” he says, “I will hear none of it.”

“Well that’s rude,” Inigo says.

“You’re rude,” Owain retorts.

“Your mom’s rude.”

“My mother is a perfectly lovely angel incarnate.”

“And what would she tell you to do?”

Owain pretends he doesn’t hear this. “I believe I’m going to lay here until the beasts of time tear the flesh from my bones. I simply do not see another option.”

“Okay, well, as long as you’re there you should check your phone.” Inigo stands and stretches his arms out wide. “I’m gonna make breakfast. Have fun with your beasts or whatever.”

And then Inigo’s gone as well, leaving Owain with only his thoughts and his phone.

“You could’ve at least shut the door behind you,” Owain yells. A raspberry blows somewhere in the distance. Owain lays there a few minutes longer, allowing his thoughts to play out and chase one another in the dark field of his mind. Then he gets bored and checks his phone.

_Right,_ he thinks, _I was avoiding something._

His lock screen is populated with notification after notification, some from friends and family wishing him a happy new year, a handful from Severa asking if he’s alive, and a _lot_ from his group chat with Leo and Niles. He closes his eyes.

If this is where fate has brought him, flat on his floor with no salvation, then he’ll accept his defeat.

He opens the dreaded group chat.

> **Leo:** Let me know when you’re up
> 
> **Niles:** who
> 
> **Leo:** Both of you
> 
> **Niles:** well i can’t speak for owain, but i’m certainly up and excited
> 
> **Leo:** Lovely, thank you for the update
> 
> **Niles:** it was my pleasure

There’s a timestamp, marked as several hours later than the first round.

> **Leo:** Owain
> 
> **Leo:** Are you up yet?
> 
> **Leo:** It’s not like you to sleep in this late
> 
> **Niles:** what am i supposed to do without your constant presence
> 
> **Leo:** Wake up
> 
> **Leo:** I’m calling Severa
> 
> **Niles:** oohh he’s telling on you
> 
> **Leo:** Owain.
> 
> **Leo:** Owain.

The messages are broken up by another timestamp, marked as a few minutes ago.

> **Leo:** Owain I know you’re awake
> 
> **Niles:** you’re going about this all wrong
> 
> **Niles:** rise, odin dark, from your eternal slumber, and heed leo’s call
> 
> **Leo:** ...

Owain sighs and begins typing.

> **Owain:** I have risen! Who has called upon the feared hero, Odin Dark?
> 
> **Niles:** see i told you
> 
> **Leo:** Wow.
> 
> **Leo:** You’ve been typing for so long
> 
> **Owain:** A terrible spirit, one in pigtails with an atrocious attitude has alerted me to your plight! Speak now, my associates of the abyss, for I will hear your pleas.
> 
> **Leo:** ...wow.
> 
> **Niles:** we’re on three minutes typing
> 
> **Leo:** I’ve noticed
> 
> **Owain:** But alas! It seems my presence was but a mere desire for conversation, a simple whim ridden by mere mortals to their deadly error; their error of waking Odin Dark and piercing his mind with poisoned blades, rendering him motionless until Inigo of the Indigo Skies arrived to bless Odin Dark with the gift of power and painkillers! But Odin Dark hungers for more than mere sports drinks. Odin Dark hungers… for brunch!
> 
> **Niles:** yeah i could go for brunch
> 
> **Leo:** Great, glad we got that settled
> 
> **Owain:** Odin Dark hungers… for hashbrowns!

Owain realizes very suddenly that he got so into his alter ego that he just made brunch plans with the two people he’s trying to avoid. Fate is a cruel, cruel mistress.

* * *

Owain feels very much so like a lost puppy thrown to the wolves. Their teeth snarl and their claws tear, thoughts and feelings far bigger than he loom over him, casting him in the shadows of doubt and remorse, and he can do nothing but cower with his tail between his legs as he awaits their judgement.

Niles steals one of his sausages.

“You fiend,” Owain says. His heart isn’t in it.

Niles raises an eyebrow. Somehow the effect is amplified by raising his eyepatch eyebrow. “You feeling okay? I was excited for a sausage-themed monologue.”

“Yeah, I’m okay,” he says as he stabs his hashbrowns with a fork for the seventeenth time.

“You’re terrible at hiding your emotions,” Niles says.

Owain isn’t sure how Niles is acting so casual, but given Niles’ history he’s not particularly surprised. What he _is_ surprised about, however, is Leo sitting across the table looking perfectly comfortable. If only he could be so familiar with his friend post-new year’s kiss. Instead he keeps thinking about kissing them again, perhaps with a little more grace.

But he shouldn’t be thinking about that. So he stabs his hashbrowns with a fork for the eighteenth time.

“Don’t worry about me,” he says to his breakfast. He stabs his hashbrowns with a fork for the nineteenth time.

“Are you sick?” Leo asks.

Owain shakes his head.

“Are you horny?” Niles asks.

Owain lifts his eyes and stares. Niles shrugs.

“Worth a shot.”

“What I think Niles is trying to say,” Leo says, “Is that it seems something’s on your mind.”

Owain returns to stabbing his hashbrowns. “There’s nothing.”

“I love it when you’re difficult,” Niles says. His stomach flips. It feels like a punch to the gut. “How about I play the guessing game?”

“This would be much easier if you told us what’s bothering you,” Leo says.

Owain shrugs.

“That’s it,” Niles says, “You’ve forced my hand. Shall we take turns guessing, Leo?”

“I don’t think that’s necessary,” Leo says.

Niles ignores him. “I think you’re being mopey because… your favorite author said something weird on twitter.”

Owain stares. Niles turns to Leo and gestures for him to take a turn. Leo sighs.

“This is about the kiss, isn’t it?”

Owain chokes.

“Well, well,” Niles smirks, “Leo, the master of insight, has cracked the code.”

Owain pushes his breakfast away and rests his head on the diner table. It’s sticky.

“I’m sorry,” he says into the laminate.

A hand claps him on the shoulder. “What are you sorry for?” Niles asks.

“I cast a spell so that we’d all remember,” he says, still into the laminate.

“What was that? I can’t hear you when you make out with the table,” Niles says. Owain lifts his head and folds his arms under his chin.

“I said I cast a spell so that we’d all remember,” he says again. Now that he knows they’re both watching him his face gets incredibly hot. Maybe he’ll combust.

“Really?” Leo asks. Owain refuses to look. “What’s the name of this spell?”

“It doesn’t have a name,” Owain mutters.

“What are you talking about?” Niles snorts, “You name everything. You named both your shoes.”

“I barely even remember making it up!” Owain whines, “If I gave it a name it’s escaped my memory.”

“Must not be an effective memory spell,” Leo says, voice dry.

“Way to go, Owain,” Niles says, “You used up Leo’s joke allotment. He has to wait until next year before he can make another one.”

“I’m sorry,” Owain says.

“Why’s it bothering you so much?” Niles asks. “It’s about time we all made out, anyway.”

Owain’s jerks up. His heart thunders. He struggles to find the words, to structure his thoughts and emotions in a way that makes sense.

“Wh-what?!” is what he comes up with.

Niles’ eye narrows and he looks to Leo. Owain follows and finds himself fixed under Leo’s intense stare. He’s being read like a book. He _knows_ he’s being read like a book, but he can’t look away. He’s trapped, a fish ensnared under Leo’s all-knowing eyes. He whimpers.

“Owain,” Leo says, slow, “What do you think we are?”

Words fail him once again. “Um, humans?” he tries. Niles snorts.

“Not like that,” Leo says. Owain finds himself completely and utterly lost. “I mean our relationship. What are we to one another?”

“I — we’re friends, aren’t we?” Owain asks. He’s suddenly unsure of himself, and Leo’s disappointed sigh indicates he feels the same.

“I’m a moron,” Leo mutters.

“You musn’t be too hard on yourself,” Owain says. He grasps for his fantastical words, grips them like a crutch, and hobbles forward, desperate to lighten the mood he so gracelessly dampened. “Your folly, whatever it may be, doesn’t reflect on your intellectual abilities. I admit, understanding evades me, but I’m confident —”

“Owain,” Niles cuts him off. Owain stops. “Leo and I were under the impression we were dating. As in the three of us. Including you.”

Owain does not start again.

“Clearly, I was wrong,” Leo says. With a crushed heart Owain realizes Leo’s _hurt._ “I’m… sorry. I’m sorry if I crossed any boundaries. I…”

Niles raises a hand for Leo to stop. He does. “Let’s not get ahead of ourselves. Owain? What are your thoughts on this whole… thing.”

Owain isn’t sure he still has thoughts.

“You look like a dying fish,” Niles says. He’s smirking. Owain swallows. He can do this.

“I had no idea.” He casts his crutch aside. It’s time for uncomfortable honesty. “When, ah, when did we..?”

“Halloween,” Leo says, voice clipped.

“So we’ve been dating for — for two months?!” Owain’s shock is clear in his voice. He can’t be bothered to camouflage it. “And I didn’t _notice?!”_

“And here I just thought we were taking it slow,” Niles says.

“I just thought you were ace,” Leo says.

Owain looks back and forth between them and takes it all in. The relationship he wasn’t aware of, the apparently welcomed kiss, Leo’s red face, Niles’ calm smirk. He shakes his head and says, “I wish you’d said something.”

“Me too,” Leo mutters.

“Well I, for one, am thrilled we had this conversation,” Niles says. Leo somehow gets redder. “Tell me, Owain, are you satisfied with this arrangement?”

“I will admit, I am dismayed to learn this, uh, _after_ we kissed.” His heart thunders. He hurries to get the words out before he explodes. “But I, um, what happens if things go wrong? What about our friendship?”

“We talk about it, like adults,” Niles says simply.

“Oh,” Owain says simply.

“I don’t know what to say,” Leo admits, “I’ve never — I don’t —”

“Hey Owain,” Niles says, “Wanna date?”

Owain’s mouth opens and closes with words he can’t find. He smiles.

“Nothing else in this world could possibly bless me with such good fortune.” He swallows. “That is to say, yes. Um, please.”

Leo exhales and covers his face with his hands. “I can’t believe,” he says, “You didn’t know.”

“I can,” Niles says.

“My, uh, partners,” Owain says, testing this new word, “You never shared this knowledge! I was simply expected to use my divine powers of intuition to uncode your puzzling words?”

“We’ve gone on dates,” Niles says.

“We _called_ them dates,” Leo says.

“I thought friends went on dates,” Owain admits.

“Clearly I had a lapse in judgement.” Leo removes his hands from his face and picks up his fork. “I apologize, Owain.”

“Does this mean we aren’t taking it slow?” Niles asks with a wicked grin.

“I haven’t really thought about it,” Owain says.

“Well,” Niles leans in. Leo watches with a blank face from across the table. “Whenever you’re done thinking about it, let me know. Or when you’re thinking about it. Whichever sounds more fun.”

Somehow this isn’t as embarrassing as their earlier conversation. Owain grins so hard it hurts.

“You’ll be the first to know!” he says brightly. Leo coughs. Owain takes a bite of his eviscerated hashbrowns and Niles laughs at both of them. The feeling of bliss that replaced the heavy weight of guilt feels natural, like he’s been waiting for it his entire life.

“Well, Owain? What do you wanna do after this?” Leo asks. He thinks for a moment.

“I suppose I should call my mother,” he says. Niles snorts into his mimosa. “What?”

Niles can barely speak through his laughter. Tears well up at the corner of his eye. “Owain,” he chokes out, “She already knows.”

“...Oh.”

**Author's Note:**

> so. hi. hello. 
> 
> this is my first fates fic. this game consumed my whole entire life. i don't know who i am anymore.
> 
> ok to be honest i wrote this because i started working on a leo/niles/odin longfic and realized i didn't know how to write a single one of them, so rather than jump into what'll probably be a 10 chapter 40k fic with no idea of what i'm doing i decided to write a low-stakes one-shot to figure out how i want to write them. i did it!
> 
> anyway thanks for reading!
> 
> [twitter](http://www.twitter.com/punchyfakegamer)


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